Housing Starts and Building Permits

Definition: A measure of the number of residential units on which construction is
begun each month.

Importance: It's used to predict the changes of gross domestic product. While
residential investment represents just four percent of the level of GDP, due to its
volatility it frequently represents a much higher portion of changes in GDP over
relatively short periods of time.

Source: The Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce.

Availability: Around the 16th of the month at 8:30am ET. Data for month prior.

Frequency: Monthly.

Revisions: The data are revised monthly for the prior two months to incorporate
more complete information. New seasonal adjustment factors are introduced in
February with the release of the January data. This revision affects at least three
years of data, but its significance is generally small.